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After leaving Bariloche we headed to Chile via Osorno and then on to Valparaiso, where we stayed for 2 nights. Valparaiso is a small city north of Santiago that is set in hillsides overlooking the harbour below. The city looks very old and run down, but in a quirky, charming sort of way. There is an adundance of graffiti - every corner we turned we would see bright, colourful, imaginative paintings on the sides of buildings. From a distance, the city very much resembled a Brazilian favela ... but was a lot cleaner and safer, thankfully!!! We booked in to our hostel which was located up a lovely steep street above the busy town below, but which gave us quite a nice view from a lookout point located very nearby.
That afternoon we went for a walk around the hilly streets, which for Lee was quite a struggle! He was shattered and the thought of trekking up and down steps didn't exactly fill him with excitement! But the weather had brightened up and so we walked to different view points around the city which looked beautiful, especially as the sun was just starting to go down. That evening we went back to the hostel and relaxed watching a film, having eaten in a very nice vegetarian cafe earlier on.
The following day we got up reasonably early, had a refreshing shower and headed out and about, catching a bus to a town called Vina Del Mar which was five minutes along the coast from Valpariso. We strolled up and down the streets of Vina del Mar, which seemed to resemble Spain in some way - the white buildings, street cafes and beach items on sale were very mediterranean! The town itself was very nice and we walked down to the sea front before stopping off for a bite to eat, then catching the bus back to Valparaiso.
Once back in Valparaiso, we decided to walk to the cultural cente, which is the remains of an old prison that has been opened to the public to use as they wish. The prison is set in the middle of the city on top of a hill, with houses perched on the hills above it and more below. The prison walls were covered in graffiti, and you could peer through the old cell bars to see what it used to be like inside ... pretty grimey!! Whilst we were there, there was a drum band playing really loud beats which sounded really funky, another drum band teamed with a group of street-style dancers, and a little boy flying his kite in the old courtyard with his dad!
After our cultural afternoon we walked back to our hostel to collect our bags, then caught a bus to Santiago for the last leg of our South American journey!
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